The Kitchen Affair (part 6)

The table tonight was too long, too polished, too aware. Three places set — one end, one middle, one edge. A geometry of power disguised as seating. Lila noticed it as she placed the final dish down: seared salmon, wild rice, a whisper of citrus and char. Comfort with teeth. Ethan sat first, posture unreadable, wine glass untouched. Damian arrived second, somehow making the chair look like it was accommodating him, not the other way around. Lila didn’t sit until both men had settled — not out of obedience, but observation. She wanted to see who watched her move. Damian, unabashed. Ethan, careful not to be caught. She slid into her seat. The silverware clinked, quiet but surgical. Silence first — a polite one, but brittle. Then Ethan cut through it. “The presentation is beautiful, Lila.” “Thank you.” Damian’s gaze sharpened, amusement flickering. “He’s trying very hard not to say it smells sinful.” “It does,” Ethan admitted, eyes on his fork, not her. He felt something tig

Huling Na-update : 2025-11-01

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The Kitchen Affair (part 7)

Lila plated dessert like she needed the rhythm — spoon, swipe, berry, breath. The kitchen hummed from the storm outside; thunder rolled again, low and hungry. A fitting soundtrack. She didn’t hear Damian enter. Of course she didn’t. Men who hunt don’t stomp. They disturb the air first, not the floor. She felt him — that slight shift in gravity, that almost-electric hum of someone who thrives in thresholds. “You ran,” he murmured. She didn’t turn. “I walked.” “Semantics.” His voice poured, not spoke. Dark honey, slow and knowing. “I don’t owe presence to anyone,” she replied, calm even as her pulse disagreed. “No,” he said, moving closer, “you don’t owe. But you leave like someone avoiding a mirror.” She set a plate down and finally faced him. Damian stood too close — not violating space, but rewriting it. “You think I’m afraid of seeing myself?” she asked. “No.” He tilted his head, gaze slow, unblinking. “I think you’re afraid of being seen by som

Huling Na-update : 2025-11-02

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The Kitchen Affair (part 8)

The storm had eased by dawn, leaving the world rinsed and pale. Lila came downstairs early, the kind of early that meant she hadn’t really slept. The house smelled of rain and lemon polish, the way luxury always tries to mask emotion.Ethan was already at the table, sleeves rolled, a mug cooling beside untouched papers. He looked like a man rehearsing calm.She hesitated at the doorway, then crossed to the counter. He didn’t speak until she’d reached for the coffee pot.“Damian left before sunrise,” he said.“I heard.”His tone was neutral, but something in it tugged.“You talked,” he added. “Last night.”Lila set the pot down carefully. “He talks at people. It’s a habit.”“And you?”She faced him fully. “I listen. It’s my worst one.”Ethan studied her—really studied, eyes moving from her face to her hands, the faint red mark on her wrist from where a pan handle had burned earlier. He always noticed the small, unglamorous details. That was his kind of intimacy.“Did he say something t

Huling Na-update : 2025-11-10

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The Kitchen Affair (part 9)

The storm had passed, leaving a hush that pressed against the walls.Lila moved barefoot through the house, the floor cool under her soles, a glass of wine catching the soft kitchen light. The air smelled faintly of rain and rosemary. Every sound felt too loud—the hum of the refrigerator, the whisper of fabric when she turned.She almost missed the knock. Just two taps, confident, no hesitation.When she opened the door, Damian was there. No jacket this time, just damp sleeves rolled to his elbows, hair ruffled by the wind.“You keep your lights low,” he said, stepping inside before she could answer. “Feels like a secret in here.”“Maybe it is.” Her voice was calm, though her heart wasn’t.He stopped close enough for her to feel the trace of rain off his coat. “Ethan home?”She shook her head.A pause. The kind that builds its own gravity.“You shouldn’t be here,” she murmured.“I know,” he said, a small smile playing at the edge of his mouth. “But I wanted to see if the house was as

Huling Na-update : 2025-11-12

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The Kitchen Affair (part 10)

The scent of brewed coffee drifted through the hallway before Lila even reached the kitchen. Morning light spilled across the wooden floors, thin and pale after last night’s storm. She wrapped her arms around herself as she walked, still feeling the echoes of the night — Damian leaning against the counter, Ethan’s quiet control, the silence that held all three of them like a thread pulled too tight.She wasn’t prepared for the voices.Low. Firm. Not loud — that was what startled her.Men didn’t argue at that volume unless something mattered.She slowed, stopping just before the kitchen entrance.“…you crossed a line,” Ethan murmured, voice sharpened by restraint.Damian scoffed under his breath. “You don’t own the entire house, Ethan.”“I own the boundaries,” Ethan replied. “And I expect them to be respected.”“So this is about you controlling everything?” Damian asked. “Or just… one specific thing?”A long, tight pause.Lila’s heart thudded.She stepped closer, her breath caught.The

Huling Na-update : 2025-11-23

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The Kitchen Affair (part 11)

The rest of the day moved strangely.Lila worked around the house, but every room felt heavier than usual, charged with the memory of that morning. She could sense both men even when they weren’t near her — the way Damian’s presence carried wildfire tension, the way Ethan’s steadiness pulled at her like gravity.By sunset, she stood in the garden behind the mansion, letting the fading gold soak into her skin. The roses were still wet from last night’s storm, leaves trembling in the cooling air. She closed her eyes and breathed, trying to steady her heart.She didn’t hear footsteps.She just felt someone behind her.Damian.She turned slightly, and there he was: hands in his pockets, shirt unbuttoned at the throat, eyes soft in a way she didn’t see often.“You disappeared,” he said quietly.“You both needed space,” Lila replied.He let out a breath, half a laugh. “Space isn’t exactly my specialty.”“I noticed.”He moved closer — not touching her, but close enough that she felt the warm

Huling Na-update : 2025-11-23

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Lahat ng Kabanata ng Twisted Temptation : Kabanata 131 - Kabanata 136

The Kitchen Affair (part 6)

The Kitchen Affair (part 7)

The Kitchen Affair (part 8)

The Kitchen Affair (part 9)

The Kitchen Affair (part 10)

The Kitchen Affair (part 11)